6,340 Garden Web Discussions | Growing from Seed
I've never heard of a caffeine soak.
But have heard that a weak tea solution helps soften the outside of the seed for quicker germination.. and if sprinkled on the ground, helps keep the soil from getting a hard crust, which happens alot here.
I think it was in my Jerry Baker books, but mom has them at the moment, so can't go look..
JoJo
I Looked up a research article from Cambridge University that says that caffeine actually inhibits germination of seeds and at very low dilutions shows no effect at all. So I would say be suspicious of any miracle treatments for seeds unless the idea can be independantly confirmed.
I bought the chrome wire shelves that are four feet wide and two feet deep. (I have them on locking casters if I need to move them, but they are not going anywhere.) I can fit 4 standard nursery flats on each shelf. I have 5 shelves, though the bottom one is used for supply storage. I hang two shop lights for each growing level (4 bulbs total per level) from the bottom of the upper shelf (height adjusted by chains), so, three growing levels (12 flats). (The shelves go just about to the ceiling.) I put in a long 15 outlet power strip with surge protector vertically on the wall so that I could easily connect and disconnect all the plugs for lights and mats and fans. I think it works really well as a self-contained area for propagation, and it looks pretty good too.
There's a photo and description here:
Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly Bush seed harvest
It would seem this one does not set viable seed. If it did set seed, as a hybrid plant is it unlikely the seeds would produce seedlings that would be true to the plant from which you gathered them. Division in Fall or Spring is the recommended propagation method of Karl Foerster. If the number you want is beyond your budget, possibly look for the larger sizes as Fall sales begin, divide before planting.
Knowing the parentage will not help you.
Yes if a hybrid is grown from seed the seed will likely be viable, but you will never know what you are going to get especially if it is open pollinated. It may revert back to the parent. It may be like the hybrid or nothing like the parent or the hybrid. It may be like another species that was the pollinator. It may have been self pollinated or not at all and will produce small flowers or not be viable.
When growers produce hybrid seed, they are hand pollinated from a like species when the flower is in bud, and then covered with mesh bags so no insect can pollinate them. They are left until the seed falls into the bag.
If they are started from cuttings they will always be true because you are growing a piece of the original plant
Hi Merrin :)
Last month I sowed a wildflower mix from Burpee's that contained cosmos in my soil. I'm from nearby Guam and right now it's been a hot summer. It's supposed to be rainy season, but we've only had about 50/50 days of rain and days of hot-dry. I sowed the seeds in poor soil with some stuff to keep the bugs away, then lightly covered them with some kind of soil mix my dad made (i believe just the same poor, clay-ish soil I planted them in and some potting soil) and watered them for a few days. Then some rain started coming and generally I have stopped watering them.
Now the cosmos are the tallest, and are about to bloom, and it's only been a month :) They were the first to grow. I didn't pinch them or anything. Hardly did anything.
I suppose it depends on the seeds you get, your area... I did this wildflower sowing as an experiment to see what would grow here. I'm a beginner gardener too and it's best to experiment with what will grow where you are, because even if our climates are similar, there are so many different micro-climates depending on the very spot where you plant them.
Cosmos were one of the very first flowers I successfully grew (I am still a newbie!), they were soo delicate & pretty, attracted nice butterflies & bees, some ladybugs too. The kids loved them! They were also very esy to save seeds from & we did & shared them with several relatives & friends, we're planting some from saved seeds now. All we did was barely cover the seeds with seed starting mix in cups. They germinated quite easily & did pretty well actually throughout our very hot, humid, rainy summer & our record freeze for Florida in winter. They reseeded themselves as well. Very easy flower & pretty!
I put them in full sun and despite the scorching heat, after a week, they started standing up fine and I transplanted them into the ground so now they have more room. They look great. A couple of lower leaves died but I just removed them and the plants are standing up straight and healthy.
It seems to me you will have to be more concerned with too much heat as opposed to heating. Any structure you build need only be kept a few degrees above the freezing point, but will have to be cooled or opened up during the heat of the day so it doesn't get too hot.
I would suggest you investigate hoop houses on this website in greenhouses and garden structures. These are pieces of PVC water pipe covered with UV plastic sheeting. They will have to be built so you can roll back the plastic during the day. They are usually made over a raised bed. Don't make it too high, just high enough that your tallest plant doesn't touch the plastic.
I would also recommend you look at shade cloth and a minimum-maximum thermometer. This mini-max thermometer helps you with adjusting the temperature because it gives the hottest and coldest temperature since it was set.
Keeping the cheapskate going.... I cut my gallon milk jugs just below the handle and viola, a nice size container. And with the way we go through milk I make about 3 a week. Not to mention garage sales. I had a lovely lady once give me all the old plant containers in her garage (almost a garbage bag full). All because I noticed a couple she had in her Free box. :0)
Yep, just ignore them and they will do wonderfully. As stated above they may wilt in the hot mid-day sun, but that is natural as they wilt to conserve moisture.
Be careful what you wish for, I planted MG's 5 years ago and I gave never planted them again, but I do pull out 30-100 seedlings every year to keep it 'neat'.
Happy Gardening!
Keriann~
Morning Glories do best in full sun, especially morning sun. Do you have too much shade? Also, I have grown morning glories that bloomed like crazy in Texas clay, but living in a place with cooler nights and sandy soil resulted in stunted growth and sparse bloom. Not sure if it was the temperature or soil type which caused the difference.